In his 100 Greatest NHL Players profile on center Bobby Clarke, author Stu Hackel wrote, "Like the [Philadelphia Flyers teams] he sparked to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975, Clarke combined high-level skill with high-level antagonism. On one hand, he was a supreme playmaker, a crafty and timely goal-scorer, an indefatigable checker, a virtuoso faceoff specialist -- a complete player. On the other hand, he could also be a vicious stickman, a cheap-shot artist and an incorrigible instigator."

Luc Robitaille's story, as written by author Wayne Coffey, is of a player not many gave a chance to make it in the NHL but who became the highest-scoring left wing in League history (668 goals, 1,394 points).

"Robitaille's name wasn't called until more than 100 spots after that of a heralded prep baseball pitcher from Massachusetts, Tom Glavine, the [Los Angeles] Kings' fourth-round pick and a future baseball Hall of Famer," Coffey wrote. "It might not have been called at all were if not for the late Alex Smart, a part-time, Ottawa-based scout for the Kings whom Robitaille calls 'the one person [who] believed in me. I owe my career to Alex Smart,' Robitaille said. 'He was the only scout that ever talked to me. I was on one (team's scouting) list.'"

Bobby Clarke

Luc Robitaille

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